Let me recommend:

So. Good. Super short read- took me about an hour. What a challenge! Read it.

"Every single day, we are on trial.  That is the way that everyone's identity works.  In the courtroom, you have the prosecution and the defence.  And everything we do is providing evidence for the prosecution or evidence for the defence.  Some days we feel we are winning the trial and other days we feel we are losing it.  But Paul says that he has found the secret.  The trial is over for him.  He is out of the courtroom. It is gone.  It is over. Because the ultimate verdict is in.  ... He knows that they cannot justify him.  He knows that he cannot justify himself.  And what does he say?  He says that is the Lord who judges him.  It is only His opinion that counts."

"You see, the verdict is in.  And now I perform on the basis of the verdict.  Because He loves me and He accepts me, I do not have to do things just to build up my resume.  I do not have to do things to make me look good.  I can do things for the joy of doing them.  I can help people to help people- not so I can feel better about myself, not so I can fill up the emptiness."

Scones!

To be honest, I've never really been "in to" any TV shows... I'll watch an episode of SVU if I come across it while flipping the channels, but I've never kept up with a show.  Over the past year or so, I've watched LOST and Friday Night Lights on Netflix, but last night was probably one of the very first times I've worked my schedule around a show.... This fall, I watched seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey and now you could say I'm almost obsessed.

Last night was Season 3 premier, so it was only appropriate to drink tea and eat scones!  I made these delicious chocolate-chip scones and they were SUPER easy!

I found this recipe at www.yummly.com and altered just a little:
Recipe says makes 8... I made 12- more the merrier! Plus, you'll probably have just about everything on hand minus the buttermilk!

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsps unsalted butter (diced)
3/4 cup chocolate chips (chopped)- original recipe calls for the mini chips, but I like bigger chunks of chocolate :)
3/4 cup butter milk
1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
milk (for brushing on scones)

Directions:
1. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into large bowl. Add diced butter and rub into flour mixture with fingertips (butter should be reduced to size of rice grains).  Mix in chocolate chips.

2. Whisk buttermilk, egg yolk, and buttermilk in small bowl.  Add mixture to dry ingredients and combine until dough comes together.  Gather dough and roll into one big ball.

3. Press out ball of dough with rolling pin on a floured surface.  Cut round into wedges (I just used a pizza cutter).

4. Transfer to baking sheet, brush scones with milk and then sprinkle with sugar.
5. Bake at 400 degrees until scones are crusty on top- about 15-20 minutes.

I'm making them again this weekend for LAKE WEEKEND 2013- More on that later!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend... HOTTY TODDY and for tonight, Roll Tide!

Thought for the day:

"You can give up the need to compete in the world — when you accept being complete in Christ." Voskamp

I need to tell myself this on a daily basis.  Now let me preface this post by admitting to you that I am extremely competitive (mainly in board games and my husband's races- I will most likely be that mom yelling in the stands), but think how much of our world is  centered around competition... I mean, I'm currently packing my bag to head to Birmingham to watch the Rebs play (HOTTY TODDY!).  Not that football is a bad thing (or competition in itself, for that matter), but think how even sports can foster so much tension, malice and envy. Most relationships that are broken stem from some form of unhealthy competition... competing for the promotion, competing for someone's attention or affection, competing for the spotlight, etc...  Competition at its heart is seeking to put yourself ahead- and well, I feel like that is what the world is screaming at us every single day.  

I've been wrestling with this idea as I apply for positions and search for jobs.  Do a lot of people feel this way?  Whether you're applying for that internship, trying to get in medical school, or simply wanting to be noticed by a certain someone, that burning question of "What sets you apart?" gives us a constant excuse to compare ourselves to other people... in essence, to compete.  

The reality is, many of life's circumstances put us in some form of competition.  When you apply for any position, you are inevitably competing against someone else.  When you play a friendly game of Spades or a pick-up game of ultimate frisbee, you are competing against someone else.  What I must choose to remember is the attitude in which I compete.  I can healthily use competition to foster a better me...  We all can become better athletes, better thinkers, better students, and learn areas in which we can improve, both professionally and personally, with competition... but we must avoid making the competition the actual focus.

I'm thinking the key here is how we see competition and how we react to its outcomes... and how important the thing we are competing for is to us.  Its when we feel the need to compete, the need to be better, the need to feel important, and the need for the validation that comes with a win or obtaining a position, that we harbor selfishness, envy, boastfulness, and that ugly p word... (pride).  

Hart, you are better, you are important, and you are completely valid in Christ, and that's the only thing worth boasting about.

Move forward knowing that you are YOU for a reason and the plan He has for your life is perfect- whether you win the current situation or wait for an even more glorious win next season.  

Berry Christmas Trek 2012: Holiday Recap

It always amazes me how fast Christmas comes and goes. I challenged myself this year to get my "to-do's" done early so I could really soak up the true JOY of the season. Chad and I stay on the road quite a bit during the holidays... We make every effort to see all of our family while we still can... Being the student I am, I always have a long break, and Chad... well lets just say he has an unheard-of-amount of vacation days. No complaints here! I will say we didn't make as big of a trek as last year, but we did make three great stops to spend time with family at each house... Chattanooga, Tupelo, and Little Rock.  You could say it was a rather scenic Christmas...

Our first stop was to see Dad and Jan in Chatty.  It has been almost a year since we've made it up to the mountain... I've missed it so!

Mountain sunrises on the front porch are my favorite:

And the sunsets out back are simply breathtaking... Chatty, you are just too beautiful.

Since we miss "Wardlaw Christmas" with the extended family, Dad made sure we spent some quality time with #themamaw

In Chad's words, we "straight chilled."
Confession: I stayed in my PJ's for majority of the time.
This year was the first year we didn't go to Rock City lights... It has always been a Christmas tradition with Dad- but this year, we settled for the the fire, unhealthy amounts of coffee, and a never-ending rook tournament.  My mamaw is the most intense rook player you'll ever meet.

This year, HERIN had a twist.  HERIN is the reindeer stocking full of gift cards.  Each year, Erin and I (and now Chad and Adam- unfortunately their names didn't get combined into HERIN), draw gift cards out of a stocking...  This includes everything from Target and Anthro to Lowes and Gamestop.  There is a "gold card" every year that is something special but you don't know until you have permission to open it... Last year, the lucky individual who drew the gold card could use it (not knowing what it was) to trade for any card he or she desired from another person. The catch was, if you decided to keep the gold card, you got to open it and see that it was twice the value of the others. This year, the gold card was different and just so happened to be drawn by.... yours truly.  As I was opening the gold card, Dad informed me that there were actually 2 cards... I was to keep the first and the second was to be given to "TBA."  The card on top was:

Yes, that is a VICTORY POINT.  I received a victory point and everyone was immediately directed to the game table to engage in a friendly game of CATAN... well it actually wasn't too friendly as the stakes were high... winner would be the proud recipient of $100 to Amazon that was also wrapped in the "gold card."  Of course I won ;)  I mean, I started with a free victory point... there was no way I was going to lose that battle.

Thanks to my dearest brother-in-law, Adam, I have some fun pictures from the remainder of our time in Chatty (and also an idea of what my Catan winnings will go towards... a new LENS!)

I seemed to get carried away with outside pictures and didn't even get a family picture...Oops.

Our next stop was Tupelo... I was apparently too busy cooking, wrapping, and visiting to take pictures.  How sad is that?  I did get this one of Herbert by Mom's tree...

And stole this one from FB with my favorite girls- Ausycar and the D :)

Oh, and I do have this one of Herbert and the Kellum brothers!

Of course I managed to get pictures of DOGS and not my family. Well, it was a short visit but there's nothing like Christmas Eve with Chacha and the McElroy girls (poor Chad is the only guy). Some of my fondest childhood memories are Christmas Eve's at Chacha and HiDan's. We had family Christmas at Mom's this year due to work on Chacha's house, but we hope to return back to the 862 next year!

Christmas morning we hit the road at 7:30 (with monkey-bread in hand) and headed to Little Rock. Little Rock Christmas can be described in one word:

WHITE.

We lost power Christmas night, and the next morning, we opened the front door to what you see above.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Herbert was in heaven because ICE is his favorite treat!

Such a fun day! (JB doing his thing)

The power stayed out for days... so we cut our trip a little short... but it was good and I am thankful.

Family is so special and I'm so grateful and blessed to have such a great one... or three!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Aspirations

Hello there, 2013! I have a few plans in mind for us...

The ambitious list:
Learn to sew
Grow a garden
Run as much as Chad (yeah, right.)
Become a better cook
Find a job I love

The realistic list:
Learn to patch holes in my pants :)
Start an herb garden (and maybe some tomatoes and peppers)
Quit talking about running my half.... and do it.
Cook without battle scars (aka decrease kitchen burns)
Graduate (Yes, that is realistic this year, hallelujah!)

Also, I'd like to:
Keep up with friends (better)
Remember birthdays
Quit the pony-tail (or at least not every day)